Making it up as I go

Friday, November 18, 2016

Firstly, I'm supposed to be doing my Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care. I say "supposed to be" because I'm studying full time while also still working full time, which means I don't do much of it until crunch time (or my travelling parents make an appearance and take the children from me which leaves me with no excuses).

Secondly, I've just been sick for two and a half weeks with a killer cold. And now Steve has it. Talk about low energy levels.

Thirdly, I've been commissioned to sew something. For money! So I am spending some time on that (especially since my friend who asked me to do it wants it to be Christmas presents, which is pretty soon). That's pretty exciting. I might even post about it. :)

Saturday, November 05, 2016

So much green! I'm joyous when I look at it. Such growth! Such abundance! I sigh satisfied sighs of contentment when I look at it.

Let me walk you through what is there. Bottom right of the garden and going clockwise around, oregano (the dark green), Italian parsley, basil, tomatoes (probably cherry tomatoes, can't be sure because they grew themselves from the compost) and corn. Then (left to right in the middle) there are strawberries hiding under the tomato/basil, capsicum, a row of spring onions and a little rosemary cutting that I am hoping will grow.

I love those spring onions because I recently discovered you could re-grow such things from the base of the ones you buy in the store. Revelation! I've also got a lettuce (still inside) that is doing just that. I'm hoping to plant it soon.

Hiding at the other end of the garden bed is (left to right) thyme (too small to see but definitely alive and well), parsley and some lavender. You can't see it in these photos, but you can in the top one, there is a pumpkin vine and some more corn in the yellow pot, and in the big round pot we have a blueberry tree. Yay! The little green pot in the middle has some flower seedlings that I'm not sure will survive because a kid at mothers group got excited and tipped the entire pot over. We scooped it all back in, but still not sure what survived.

And that is my garden update. I hope you have some small amount of green in your life that brings you as much joy as this green brings me.

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Recognise those bricks now? They have a new life, as lions that guard the girls' rooms. And also stop the doors from slamming closed with the wind.

I realise you can't really see it now, but they have tails as well as faces. I was thinking about embroidering on some legs on the front, to make it look like they were sitting a bit more, but then couldn't be bothered. I used really small bricks and the faces were really big, so there isn't much room for it anyway.

I have to work hard at getting the girls to leave them at their doors, rather than playing with them, but thankfully the heaviness of the bricks helps to deter them. I hand sewed everything, used scrap material (the spots match the curtains in Rachel's room (see here), and the red is leftover denim from this dress that Sophie wears), and leftover quilting batting to pad out the bricks.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Saturday, October 15, 2016

I've noticed that there are lots of bunnies in our house. Bunnies in abundance. I think we have more bunnies than bears actually. They all have descriptive names like Big Bunny, Little Bunny, Average Size Bunny, and Fairy Bunny. Sophie has one that has her name embroidered on the front that we refer to as Sophie Bunny. Creative right?

Anyway, Rachel was lacking in a special bunny, so I made one for her. Now there are even more bunnies in the house! I had seen this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew, which was done by my favourite blogger, who's other stuffed animals I've also made (see a tiger here, and a ladybug here).

I had thought about doing it a few months ago actually, but the thing that tipped me over the edge last week was a pillow case for a pillow for ants. We were never going to use it. It came with a cot sheet set. It was white and flannel-y, with little silver and yellow stars, so I cut it up and made a bunny.

The bunny has pink felt ears and a white felt tail, but otherwise is made of pillow case. I stuffed him with rice and stuffing, so he can't get wet, and I hand sewed him over two nights watching movies. I wouldn't really recommend hand sewing soft toys, because kids can be pretty brutal on their toys and they could really use the strength of machine stitching, but I wanted the change of pace.

And he was so fun to make, that I ended up making two. One for Rachel and the other for a friend who has a bub on the way. I'm kind of glad I had Rachel's to practice on, because one of her bunnies' ears is on backwards for some reason. She doesn't mind though.

Hugo gave the gift bunny a good looking over before I confiscated it and gave him Fairy Bunny instead. Then Sophie got Sophie Bunny out and the three of them had a picnic with their bunnies. Party on bunnies!

I keep asking Rachel what name she wants to give her bunny, and suggesting real names, like Bertha, but nothing's taking. Right now, we call her bunny; Rachel Bunny.

About Me

Hello Internet! I am chosen, forgiven and loved by God. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a teacher, an author, an editor, a musician, a reader, a sewer. I am creative and I like instructions. I've been making things up as I go for a while now, and thought it'd be good to have a place to write about it all. Thanks for joining me on the journey.